Behind the Mask
by Nightstalcer
Summary: Prequel to put the Mask back on How did Ayumi even come up with her idea?See what happens when Conan teaches his little fellows a bit too much about detective's stuff. R & R if you please.


  
**Author:** SunniNiko 

**Story:** Behind the mask

**Rating:** T (topic + swear words)

**Disclaimer:** Meitantei Conan isn't mine, this story is just to amuse you guys.

**Warning:** Ayumi is definitely a smart one...

**Author's Comment:**_ Alright, this is now finally the prequel to "Put the mask back on" Now you'll find out how on earth Ayumi came to her conclusion. _

_Now have fun reading _

_Sunni_

* * *

Behind the mask…

It was just a normal day, nothing out of the ordinary, at least not for the detective boys, since murder has been their daily friend already. The kids didn't even flinch when they saw the corpse and weren't the least confused when Conan lifted the blanket to exanimate the body.

The police however, definitely was. They weren't in Tokyo, Beika district, where they were already well known, but in some other city, which name is not important.

Again, a camping trip with the professor turned into an adventure while stumbling upon a murder case.

For Conan, it was the thrill he missed when doing something with the children, and the constant reminder that he wasn't one of them. For the kids, it was just plain excitement.

Ayumi enjoyed these cases more or less. She found it horrible that some people murdered others, but on the other hand, she could see Conan with that special expression of his, which never showed in any of their own cases.

So most of the times, when her friend would go and solve the riddle that hid behind the murder, she would observe him quietly, seeing all his looks and gestures that he never used in elementary school.

It was like he was an entirely other person while solving cases.

Conan, of course didn't realise any of this affection showed to him, but Haibara, the other shrunken and an extremely perceptive one, noticed immediately.

She kept an eye on the other girl, trying to find out, what she did with the information she gathered.

It shocked her to see that the seven-year-old actually made some notes and lists, pointing out the differences between the "two Conans", the one from school and the one from the crime scenes.

She also saw, that the notes on the Case-Conan were getting more intensive and detailed. The things from school, which should have a lot more there other than "intensive boredom" and "very bright", were merely plain.

The facts that did surprise her were that the notes also referred to outer appearance and how it differed.

"Very confident attitude" and "kind of arrogant touch" very the ones that made her smile.

Shinichi definitely underestimated these kids, and he taught them a bit too much about gathering information. Ayumi was like a professional spy and a good one, too, because nobody of them took her serious.

"Whatcha, doin'?" Genta asked her excitedly and put the plant, which she hid behind, out of the way.

"Genta-kun." She stared at him rather angrily. Conan heard the noise behind him and joined them.

"What's the entire ruckus about?" he asked demandingly, as if he was their father or brother or some other authority. Which he was, at least that's the way he felt about them. He liked, even loved the kids, but it was always making him angry when they didn't listen to what he said and therefore getting in danger.

"Oh nothing, Conan-kun…But, do you already know who the culprit is?"

"Ahh… But I don't have any evidence yet. But that woman over there is holding the key…" He grinned and his eyes sparkled like always when he was being close to the solution.

"Hey, tell us." Genta roared and Mitsuhiko, who joined them quietly, nodded approvingly.

"Just wait…" He responded mysteriously and Haibara, who wasn't going near them, sighed loudly. She just hated this part of him. Always making everyone else squirm, while he, and only himself, knew the truth.

He needed 15 minutes to solve this serial murder case that was making the officers suffer for two months. Talk about impressive, but luckily neither of the children concluded something from that. Their friend was just too damn smart for his own sake.

"That was awesome, Conan-kun." Ayumi cheered happily as he approached them again. Officially Agasa has solved the case, Conan assisting him, and for once, the children didn't complain about not being involved.

Watching their classmate was far more exciting, they realised, but only Ayumi was doing it on high level. The boys didn't take it seriously enough, and Haibara stood next by and listened.

It was insane what these kids could find out when not watched by Conan.

It wasn't going into any dangerous area, until Shinichi was talking Haibara again into making a temporary antidote for his meeting with Ran.

Her suspicion was that Ran threatened to kill him when he didn't show up, so this left her no choice. The FBI was watching them, so there shouldn't be any interruptions this time and hopefully no murder case to stumble upon.

This time, she hoped, Kudô wouldn't be so reckless to show himself to the public but having a quiet date with his nearly girlfriend. But she forgot the detective boys in her equation.

The shounen Tantei-dan were dumped at the professors and it was just some stupid coincidence, but Shinichi happened to be there as well, looking for some of his clothes that weren't dusty like the ones in his home.

He screwed his fate and cursed inwardly, but Ayumi saw him before he could make his appearance. Dammit, why couldn't he be more of a magician like Kaito KID?

"Ah, you're Ran-sans Boyfriend." Mitsuhiko called out, he recognised him as well. Genta just looked confused.

"They're getting too good…" he muttered under his breath.

"Ano, I'm not…" he tried to protest, but would anybody believe him? Ai was making a gesture resembling throat-cutting. He gulped.

"Ne, Shinichi nii-san, how come you're here? Agasa-hakase said that you were solving a case and making Ran-san worry." Mitsuhiko pointed out and the detective's grin faded.

It was enough that Ran talked to him that way, but not these children, who had not the slightest clue, that he knew them better than they thought.

"So, Mitsuhiko-kun… Asked Haibara-san out yet? I know you are very fond of her. The way you stare at her…" The older chuckled and grinned mischievously at the boy.

The boy turned white and gasped.

Good thing Haibara already left the room…

"How do you know that?" he still tried to avoid the inevitable.

He really shouldn't try to piss Shinichi off.

"Well I'm a detective, so I should know. Observation is everything…" he explained, they all listened intensively.

Only Ayumi didn't quite believe in his power of so-called-deduction.

'I bet that Conan told him about us…' This wasn't that wrong, by the way.

After that, Shinichi rather left in a hurry, he didn't have that much time and as hell didn't want to miss his date with Ran again, and this time he wanted nothing to go wrong.

But Ayumi was still puzzled about him, he seemed so… familiar. As if he knew him a decade already. How come?

"Hey guys, I have a good idea. Let's follow him and make sure that Ran-san gets her date, alright?" She had to follow him, not matter what. She needed to know why she felt about him that way.

Her classmates agreed, but without Conan, their knowledge where to go was extremely limited and Haibara didn't join them. She stayed at home, observed the diet of professor Agasa and searched for more information on the cure.

Right now the tested the blood sample she took from Shinichi after the transformation and wrote down the results, trying them to build a connection between the labs and the actual poison. There weren't any matches.

"Damn it." She cursed and jammed the door shut. She would sit there all night, if she had to. She needed to find the damn cure.

"Maybe they went to this expensive restaurant again. You know the last time, when he dumped her…" Mitsuhiko thought out loud, recalling the event as Ran once told them about this special evening. It was one of these rare occasions when Conan was absent.

"That's it." Ayumi had the feeling that they would be there so she and the boys headed towards the Beika-restaurant.

"What now?" asked Genta, because there was no way that three ordinary kids could get into this kind of fancy restaurant without buying something to eat.

"We'll wait." They would come out eventually, Ayumi figured and she had patience when it came to things like this.

They waited for nearly two hours, but then the doors opened and Ran stepped out, arguing rather loudly with an embarrassed Shinichi, who was walking a few steps behind her.

"I told you, that I won't go easy on you." Ran exclaimed and made a beeline to the nearest park.

But apparently she had forgotten who she was walking with. As soon as they reached the park, she heard someone scream and the shouting was audible.

"Call the police!" it said and then she just knew what happened. This also attracted the kids, and Ayumi began to watch Shinichi as intensively as she did with Conan and then noticed something remarkably.

"They look… the same…" she whispered.

"Who? Kamen Yaiba and Superman? I don't think so." Genta said rather bored, this was getting on his nerves. Truly, who wanted to watch two lovebirds at his age?

"No, I mean…" But then she stopped. What on earth was she thinking?

They couldn't be the same, they weren't even related. As far as she knew, Conan was a distant relative of the professor and seemed to knew Shinichi, even learned a few tricks from him.

But this looks… And the way he moved. This confident gait, and his gaze... It pierced through her and probably all the others, too. Conan looked only once in a while like that. Either they were in a lot of trouble, meaning followed by a murderer or he was trying to order them around or… When solving a murder case.

At first, she was really mad at him doing everything alone, but the more she watched, didn't interfere, the more she saw of the real Conan, not the overly-childlike one from school or when Ran nee-san was around. It was the one that talked to Haibara and to the professor, the one that protected Ran when she suffered from Amnesia.

That was the Conan she fell in love with.

From this day on, she always tried to remember what Shinichi looked like and compared it then to Conan. Mitsuhiko and Genta already got annoying with her obsession, but she needed to be careful. Neither Conan nor Haibara were allowed to know what she was doing.

Only the fact that she was a child and therefore forgot to keep the notes with her all the time, betrayed her. Soon after Haibara read the notes, the told Kudô about them, wondering what he would think about it, but he just smiled.

"Took them long enough…"

But it still took two more years for them to actually phrase it out loud.

Two more years he had to complete his mask.

* * *

Okay, that is finished now too. After this, "put the mask back on" continues and therefore takes place two years later. And yes, it was my intention to leave that case out in the open. The entire story is mostly written in Ayumi POV, and she didn't pay any attention to the solution of this case. So, yes, Shinichi solved it alright, but didn't appear in any form of newspaper. Hope you liked it, the sequel will follow in some time . Sunni 


End file.
